On the Earth Kingdom Navy
by Daneel's Soul
Summary: How to use earthbending to win at naval warfare.


Although the fleets officially encompassed within the domain of the Earth King's Royal Navy consist of a relatively small number of mostly specialist ships, the strength of the Earth Kingdom's naval force is not to be lightly dismissed. This is because the practice of as needed construction of stone ships has rendered the bulk of the kingdom's naval forces as part of the army, thus avoiding a separate classification.

Standard stone warships are relatively large by necessity. As stone is much denser than wood and much weaker than steel, a significantly larger structure is necessary in order to achieve the necessary buoyancy. This is compounded by the fact that any ship likely to be involved in combat will need an extra thick hull, to be used not only as armor but also as a source of projectiles. The significant size and weight of these ships makes movement difficult. Although sails are occasionally used, they serve mostly to provide small amounts of additional speed over the course of long voyages. The primary means of locomotion is through earthbending of stone oars. While the pace of these ships is slow over longer timescales, in a short sprint, this mechanism allows for speeds that rival that of Watertribe vessels.

Tactically speaking, a standard Earth Kingdom warship has neither the range of a Fire Nation trebuchet, not the sheer destructive power of a single waterbender. The earthbent projectiles that they use are effective mostly at moderate ranges and of limited effectiveness at that. This lack is compensated for by two main factors: the size and reparability of an Earth Kingdom fleet. The size of an Earth Kingdom fleet is limited only by the number of earthbenders available to them. The ships are assembled from local stone as needed and a substantial force can be put to the seas in a matter of hours. This also means that individual ships can be expended at practically no expensive compared to the vast costs of a Fire Navy ship (although the loss of lives of the crew is always something to worry about). Furthermore, their stone construction allows the benders on board to repair nearly any damage done to an Earth Kingdom vessel short of actually dividing the hull in two. Although a trained waterbender can, with some difficulty, sink one of these ships, the Fire Nation trebuchets are mostly a danger to the crew rather than to the ship itself. On the other hand, building ships out of bendable material can cut both ways. Chin the Conqueror was known for sending squads of elite earthbenders to board enemy ships and demolish them directly through the use of earthbending.

The tactical implications of the hundred years war are still being digested by the Earth Kingdom military leaders, and naval tactics are no exception. While traditional tactics proved effective early in the war, largely due to the sheer number of ships that could be brought into any given fight, the Fire Nation admirals finally revised their tactics after their defeat in the first battle of Chameleon Bay. It was realized that the steamships' superior speed, coupled with the range of Fire Nation artillery pieces allowed Fire Nation ships to stay out of the enemy's range, and bombard them with impunity. While the actual hull damage done to Earth Kingdom ships was usually easily fixed, the flaming projectiles proved to be a serious hazard to the crew members. By the fall of Ba Sing Se, the Fire Nation had achieved effective naval dominance against the Earth Kingdom, except in areas of limited maneuverability, such as rivers. By the end of the war, the Earth Kingdom was being forced to use faster wooden vessels (which were previously only used during instances where extreme speed was necessary, such as the delivery of messages or the transport of elite squads of fighters) as refugee transports.

The future of the Earth Kingdom fleet is still hotly debated by military leaders, though it does seem that a solution is beginning to emerge. The key idea seems to be the use of more powerful artillery, such as catapults and ballista, to combat the Fire Navy's advantage in range. While these weapons originally consisted of crude adaptations of traditional land-based artillery, they have evolved quickly, necessitating the creation of a separate division of the Earth Kingdom artillery forces. While debates continue over how to deal with the logistical issues associated with these new weapons, which typically cannot keep pace with other ground troops, the emerging consensus seems to be to keep them afloat more or less permanently, only meeting with ground forces when they need to travel by sea. While this solution gives up some of the flexibility of a truly amphibious force that was granted by older doctrines, it is hoped to stand up better to the modern realities of warfare. Oddly enough, this strategy may well lead to a permanent class of sailors that are classified under the army rather than the navy.

The future of the Earth Kingdom navy remains unclear. As in many aspects of Earth Kingdom life, a decision must be made between the ease of construction and operation that can be obtained through the use of earthbending, and the gains in power and efficiency that can be obtained when non-compatible technologies are employed. While innovation may someday trump the old ways, it is likely that a mixture of the two will be employed for many years to come.


End file.
